Trump executive order cracks down on social media 'censorship'

President Donald J. Trump delivers remarks Tuesday, May 5, 2020, at Honeywell International Inc. in Phoenix. (Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead)

Days after Twitter tagged claims about vote fraud in two of his tweets as "unsubstantiated," President Trump signed an executive order directing his administration to prevent federal funds from going to social media companies that suppress speech.

"What they're doing is tantamount to monopoly you can say, it's tantamount to taking over the airwaves," he told reporters Thursday at the White House. "Can't let it happen, otherwise we're not going to have a democracy, we're not going to have anything to do with having a republic."

He called for "policies and procedures" that assures taxpayers will not fund "any social media company that represses free speech."

Trump, including in an exchange with a reporter Thursday, has said his prolific use of Twitter is necessary to bypass media that are not fairly reporting his message and actions.

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The order could open a path for federal regulators to punish Twitter, Facebook, Google and others by removing their liability shield as neutral public platforms. By censoring or making judgments about content based on viewpoint, the president argues, social media companies are acting as publishers, which are subject to defamation suits.

"We're here today to defend free speech from one of the greatest dangers," Trump said before signing the order.

The Washington Post explained the order could lead to revisiting Section 230 of the Communications and Decency Act of 1996, which spares the social media companies from liability.

Trump's Twitter account reaches more than 80 million people directly.

The president said there is bipartisan support for his stance, because many people recognize that Section 230 was stretched "way beyond its original intention."

Bloomberg News reported Trump said the social media platforms are no longer neutral.

Attorney General William Barr explained at the White House news conference that the order doesn't repeal federal law but helps push the Section 230 provisions back on track.

"We always knew that Silicon Valley would pull out all the stops to obstruct and interfere with President Trump getting his message through to voters," Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement.

"Partnering with the biased fake news media ‘fact checkers’ is only a smoke screen Twitter is using to try to lend their obvious political tactics some false credibility."